Tag Archives: vegetable lasagne recipe

Lasagne is one of those meals that is loved the whole family. Let’s face it, if you don’t love lasagne then you are very usual! Often seen as hard to make, time consuming and more comfort food than “healthy” I want to share my top tips for making it a standard weeknight family meal.

Pack in the veggies. Lasagne does not have to include meat! I rarely use mince to make lasagne these days. Instead I use lasagne as a way to pack in the veg. You can use lentils, beans or tofu or quorn to get protein in. There is nothing wrong with using the normal beef mince but if you are looking for more variety with meals or like us, are wanting to eat a greater range of plant based protein sources then it’s time to expand your lasagne repertoire.

Making your own sauce doesn’t have to be complicated. As much as I love a white sauce, if I’m in a rush it always goes lumpy or I burn the bottom of the pan. One of my hacks is to use cottage cheese. Add a little natural yoghurt to thin it down and pour it on the top of the lasagne, top with grated cheese and the jobs done. I wasn’t convinced this sauce would pass the lasagne police in my house but it did. Phew. The other easy alternative is to use a half fat creme fraiche, simple.

Embrace your freezer. I totally love my freezer, it saves me on a regular basis. Oh, and it needs defrosting, in case anyone fancies helping me with that. You can either make a double batch of the main filling and freeze it for another meal, or I like to make a whole lasagne and freeze it, makes me feel like a proper domestic goddess. Minus the tidy kitchen, mine is never tidy.

Make ahead. I often make lasagne in stages. so I will either get the main filling out of the freezer and leave to defrost, or make the filling up and leave it. Then later I get a child to help me put it together, layering the filling, pasta and sauce.

Use pre-bought lasagne sheets. I know most people don’t make their own fresh lasagne sheets, but I sometimes do, it makes the lasagne SO good, literally the best lasagne. But it takes more time that I just don’t have that often.

So why not transform your lasagne into sometime more inventive. It’s a forgiving dish. Here is a recipe for a wheat free, dairy free version I made this week:

250ml stock (I used homemade chicken stock but you could use a stock cube and water)

1 bay leaf

Dried mixed herbs

1 small glug of balsamic vinegar

Lasagne sheets (wheat free if required)

White sauce

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

2 tbsp wheat free flour

Soya milk as needed, approx 250ml

250ml water (you may not need it)

Soya cheese or normal cheese

Instructions

Chop all the vegetables in a food processor (this saves time!) or chop finely by hand.

Saute in the oil for a few minutes, then add the lentils, chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, bay leaf, dried herbs, balsamic, stock and simmer for 20 minutes. This is your basic lasagne filling, You can now freeze this, keep it in the fridge for making up later, or use straight away.

Make up the lasagne with 1 layer of lentil mix, lasagne sheets, lentil mix and lasagne sheets.

White sauce

Pour the oil into a sauce pan and mix in the flour with a wooden spoon, it will make a thick paste. Mix in a little milk and stir to make a batter, now add in the rest of the milk place on a gentle heat and keep stirring to incorporate it all. The sauce will thicken, if it is too thick add some water. Keep stirring! Let it gently bubble but not too much. I like to let it cool a little and then pour on top of the lasagne.

I love lasagne, it’s a real feel good, comfort food for me. I love the pasta sheets, the combination of the layers of food and sauce and the hot bubbliness of it as it comes out of the oven. My mum used to make everything from scratch when we were growing up. So for me a lasagne means making your own white sauce and I sometimes make the pasta too. I remember seeing a jar of white sauce in the supermarket for the first time and being completely surprised by it, I had no idea you could buy jars of sauce!

Which leaves me in a dilemma. I don’t like the idea of buying that jar of white sauce – and can’t as it has wheat in it… but I don’t always have the time, energy or love of washing up to make the whole lot from scratch. Plus lasagane is not the healthiest of meals with all that yummy sauce and cheese. So lasagne as fallen into a “need the time and energy to cook it” “special occasion/weekend kinda meal. With 2 small children I don’t get those type of moments often…so we don’t get lasagne often. Which makes me sad.

UNTIL NOW. Enter cottage cheese. My saviour. This makes a quick, healthy white sauce that works much better than I had ever anticipated. Lasagne, whipped up in 30 minutes with a lot less hassle. Making it with veggies rather than meat means the whole family gets their veggies into them making me a happy dietitian. Altogether a much healthier version of lasagne and so this is back on the menu!

THE VERDICT. Hubby who is the real lasagne taste tester said it worked well and I can make it again. WIN.

Miss K told me it was the best dinner all week. Thats a WIN.

J-boy threw it on the floor without trying it. Fortunately it landed with the plate on the floor, meal intact. He ate his the next day. TEETHING TODDLER ALERT.

Healthy Vegetable Lasagne (with Cottage Cheese)

2015-03-14 17:58:56

Serves 6

Vegetable lasagne using cottage cheese to make a quick, no mess white sauce.

Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and garlic, cook for a few minutes.

Now add the aubergine and courgette, cook for 2-3 minutes.

Quickly add in the chopped tomatoes and rinse out with water, add that to the pan too.

After stirring, bring the pan to a simmer.

Now as it simmers add the tomato puree, dried herbs, balsamic vinegar and black pepper.

After it has simmered for 10 minutes add in the mushrooms and kale.

Leave to simmer for a few more minutes whilst you make the cottage cheese white sauce.

Mix the cottage cheese, milk and yoghurt to get a thinner sauce.

Now layer up the lasagne with the vegetable mix on the bottom, pasta sheets, a thin layer of the cottage cheese sauce (about 1/3 of it). Repeat vegetable, pasta and top with all the cottage cheese sauce.